Desert AireWA
A town of 2,788 in Washington.
Is Desert Aire a good place to live?
The weak point is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $455K, 6.2 years of the Moses Lake area’s $73K median household income. It also trails on walkability. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 100% of U.S. towns. Put together, the subjects come to a D− overall, behind almost every U.S. town. Desert Aire’s peak summer temperature is 91°F, where Washington’s towns sit at 77°F and U.S. towns at 85°F. On health, just 39 of Washington’s 397 towns do worse. Desert Aire's public schools trail 82% of Washington towns on state tests and graduation. This Washington town has 1 place on the National Register.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · health, CDC PLACES · schools, state test and graduation results · NOAA normals, 1991–2020 · National Register of Historic Places.
Desert Aire has grown 41% from 2010 to 2020
1,626 counted in 2010 and 2,288 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
How Desert Aire grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Washington), ordered by how far Desert Aire is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Desert Aire: who provides what
Desert Aire is unincorporated, so Grant County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Desert Aire.
Desert Aire sends most of its workers to Mattawa and beyond, but it is a long drive from an emergency room.
0% of Desert Aire is conserved land
Across 1 park or preserve: 7.0 miles of trail. Desert Aire’s concentration of trails stands at 1.2 miles per square mile. It has one park or preserve, 12 acres in all.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Priest Rapids Recreation Area | 0.2 mi | 12 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Few of Desert Aire’s working residents work in town
Desert Aire has 138 jobs for its 705 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. The average commute takes 18.9 minutes, against 26.6 across Washington.
Half the trips to work are shorter than 33 miles. Desert Aire’s mean commuting time comes in at 19 minutes. Just 4% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. The top destinations are Mattawa (18%), Othello (5%) and Wenatchee (5%).
| Desert Aire | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 27 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.7% | 5% | 8% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $98,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
High risk in Desert Aire, with inland flooding at the top
In Desert Aire, the natural-hazard score from FEMA is 74 of 100. 62% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 15%.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A typical July afternoon in Desert Aire is hotter than in the typical Washington or U.S. town
Expect chilly winters and warm summers in Desert Aire, with very little rain. July afternoons reach 91° and January nights drop to 27°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Desert Aire is less healthy than 65% of U.S. towns
The nearest emergency room, Astria Sunnyside Hospital, is 26 miles away in a straight line.
The share of adults in Desert Aire who smoke cigarettes: 13%. Among 285 Washington towns, just 9 have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Desert Aire. 70% of adults in the town had a checkup this year; 16% report frequent physical distress.
| Desert Aire | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 7.8% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 17% | 19% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 70% | 71% | 79% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Desert Aire | WA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 22.4% | 8.4% |
| More adults in fair or poor health | 25.9% | 16.3% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 27.7% | 17.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median home in Desert Aire sells for about $710K
Desert Aire’s going rate for rent is $1,739 a month. Among households in the town, 83% live in a home they own.
| Desert Aire | Washington towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 83% | 70% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,739 a month | $1,737 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Desert Aire
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Desert Aire; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Desert Aire residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Washington.
96% of working residents leave Desert Aire for work
Where Desert Aire’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Desert Aire
Census-designated place in Washington, United States
Desert Aire is a census-designated place (CDP) in Grant County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,288 at the 2020 census up from 1,626 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 6.1 sq mi
- Elevation
- 568 ft
- Area code
- 509
Questions about Desert Aire
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Desert Aire, WA a good place to live?
Desert Aire grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns. It grades C+ for health and C− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Desert Aire, WA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $455,000, 23% below the Washington typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.